


Polly

by LamBams (forfitzsimmons)



Series: The Other 51 Hamilton Challenge [4]
Category: 18th Century CE RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Babysitting, Cookies, Cute Kids, Family Fluff, Fluff, Ice Cream, Phone Calls & Telephones, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 03:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13695921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forfitzsimmons/pseuds/LamBams
Summary: “Jemmy!” Thomas spoke from across the line. “How’s my little girl? Did she behave?”“She was an angel—which makes me think she must be someone else’s child because you certainly don’t act that way.”orJames babysits Maria and has a few revelations.





	Polly

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm keeping Maria's age ambiguous because she acts like a little little kid even though I had been thinking like 8 years old, but I also don't have a great grasp on writing the nuances between ages for little kids. Also, I headcanon for this series that she was born prematurely, which is why she's still small enough to be picked up. I'll go into it more in a future fic.

James was not at all prepared for this. Well, he’d prepared _for the occasion_ , but he wasn’t _mentally_ prepared to take care of Maria for an evening. All he could do was keep running over all the things that could go wrong. She was just so _small_ , especially for her age, and it made her seem so helpless.

James could feel Thomas watching him for a sign that this was a bad idea, but he kept his focus on the little girl coloring at his kitchen table, kicking her legs back and forth. He could do this. She was just a small defenseless child who could probably get hurt just by tripping over her own two feet and she might have an allergy no one knows about yet and if something happened he’d have no idea what to do.

James only realized he was beginning to hyperventilate when Maria looked up at him. “Do you like my drawing, Mr. Madison?” She waved it in his face so he’d take it.

Looking at the drawing calmed him somewhat. The simplicity was grounding. It was better than any art he could’ve done at her age. For one, even though everything was drawn in purple, pink, and blue (James raised a brow at the apparently coincidental bi pride colors), he could tell what everything was. It looked like Maria had drawn him in blue, herself in purple, and a cake bigger than both of them in pink.

“It’s us making a cake together!” Maria smiled wide enough for it to reach her eyes and James melted. She had to have gotten that smile from her dad.

“It’s pretty great,” he said. “We can put it on the fridge so everyone can see how cool your art is, if you want.”

“Yeah!” She threw her arms up, a silent request to be held.

With a shaky breath, James picked her up and made sure she was secure in his arms before turning to Thomas. He wasn’t sure he was meant to see the expression on his boyfriend’s face. It was so open and soft and more emotional than should befit a less than two-month relationship. It made his stomach do flips.

Thomas shook his head to, James assumed, clear his head. “You sure you’ll be okay, Darlin’?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I think we’re good here.” He looked to the girl in his arms. “What about you, Maria?”

She grinned wide enough to show off her missing front tooth. “Yeah! Me and Mr. Madison are good, Papa!”

Thomas moved to press a quick kiss to Maria’s cheek. “You be good, Maria. I love you.” He moved his gaze to James and gave him a bright smile. “You be good too,” he teased.  Thomas gave him a kiss on the cheek as well. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” James made a shooing motion. “Now, go. Patsy will have your head if you’re late to the band concert.”

Thomas checked his watch and paled. “You’re right. Okay, just don’t forget: bed time is 8, no PG-13 movies or up, no nuts—she’s allergic—uh, I left some books she likes before bed in her bag. I’ll see you two later!” The storm of a man rushed out James’ front door as he spoke, his words getting further away. James shook his head at his boyfriend’s antics.

“So,” James began, “what do you want to do first?”

Maria rested her chin on her hand and looked as if she was contemplating the meaning of the universe. “Can we watch _Mulan_?” She looked up at him with the perfect innocence of a child.

James’ stomach twisted for an entirely different reason this time. He ruffled the girl’s hair and smiled. “Of course.”

After _Mulan_ came a few other Disney movies, wherein James converted Maria into having _Lilo & Stitch_ as her new favorite, with _Moana_ as a close second. The little girl was still singing when it was almost time for dinner.

James watched with amusement as she sang, kind of off-key, “ _How far I’ll goooooooo_!”

“Before we eat, I was wondering if you would help me with something.” James bent down to be eye-to-eye with Maria. “I was thinking of making cookies, but the dough will need to sit in the fridge while we eat before we can bake them. Wanna help?”

The little Jefferson lit up so bright she started dancing around him. “Please, please, please!” She threw herself onto him for a hug. “What kind?”

“What kind do you like best?”

“Oatmeal raisin!” That was a surprise.

“Not chocolate?”

She adopted a very serious face and nodded. “I like them and no one at school will steal them, so I can keep them to myself. I ask anyway, so they think I’m being nice.”

James had to use all his self-control not to laugh. “You’re a smart cookie, Maria,” he joked. “Oatmeal raisin it is. Let’s wash our hands and get to it.”

The two set to work making the cookie dough. James put Maria in charge of mixing the dough while he measured out the ingredients, letting her do it all on her own when she refused his help.

“Here’s the fun part, Maria.” James scooped up some of the dough from the bowl. “We’re gonna roll up a few balls so we can let it set in the fridge.”

Maria eagerly dug her hands into the bowl to make her share. Most of them were pretty lopsided and either on the small side or the big side, but James approved of them when Maria asked him.

“Really? They’re okay?” She stared at one of her lopsided pieces with a frown.

“They’re perfect.” James felt a surge of happiness and accomplishment when he could clearly see the stars that appeared in Maria’s eyes. Kids were terrifying, but this was familiar territory. Thankfully, Maria seemed as happy baking as he was. “Come on, let’s wrap these up and eat dinner.”

“Okay!” She paused. “Dinner isn’t mac and cheese, right? Papa makes that a lot.”

Of course, he did. “I was thinking spaghetti.” James laughed, not at all surprised that Thomas was so terrible in the kitchen. “It’s kind of funny that your dad is so bad at cooking even though he owned a bakery.”

“Momma was the one who usually cooked,” Maria said. The stars in her eyes faded and James immediately regretted bringing it up. “I miss her.”

He had no idea how to salvage the situation. He hesitated a good minute or two, just staring at her crestfallen face. Finally, James knelt to her level again. “Yeah?” She nodded her head in response. “Wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head at first, but after a moment, she nodded again. James ruffled her hair and picked her up. She automatically wrapped her small arms around his neck. He rubbed her back and carried her to the couch.

“It’s okay to miss her,” he urged her on.

“I know,” she murmured into his shoulder, “but Papa and Patsy always get sad if I say anything.” She buried her head further. “I need to protect them.”

Oh. James marveled at how perceptive kids could be. “That’s really noble of you.”

“Noble?”

“Uh—it’s very good of you, but,” James paused to pull back just enough to look at her face-to-face. “They wouldn’t want you to be sad either. You can talk to them about it.”

“Can I talk to you about it? I don’t want Papa and Patsy to know what I said.” She looked up at him teary-eyed, gripping at his shirt. It wasn’t lost on James what a big responsibility it’d be if he said yes, that it’d be a big deal to the little girl in his arms. He knew this could probably make or break their relationship if he said no or if he said yes halfheartedly.

“Of course,” he said, and he made sure he meant it. The thought of not telling Thomas what she said made him a bit uneasy, but he didn’t want to ruin her trust in him. “I’m here to listen.”

Maria let go of him to sit on his lap. “I miss her,” she said. “I don’t remember Momma very good, but I still miss her. Like, I remember she’d hum while making food, but I don’t remember what she sounded like.” She sniffled a little, but continued. “I wish I remembered what she sounded like.”

“Oh, hon,” he breathed. “That’s okay. You’re allowed to miss her, y’know?”

“Papa tries really hard to be Momma too, but it’s not the same. I think he doesn’t want me to miss her.”

“I don’t think that’s it, Maria.” He wrapped her in his arms again. “I think your dad hopes he can make you happy even though your mom isn’t around anymore.”

“I am happy.” She frowned. “I love Papa and Patsy a lot! I just wish I could talk about Momma more. I don’t want to forget her.”

“You don’t have to,” he assured her. “If you ever want to talk about her, you can tell me. Though, I think your dad and sister should know that you want to talk about her.”

“You’re not gonna tell on me, right?” Her lower lip was puffed out, a small tear dripped down her cheek.

James wiped away the tear. “I won’t, I promise.” He ruffled her hair again, eliciting a small smile. “Let's eat, bake those cookies, and get you to bed.”

“Okay, Mr. Madison.” She paused. “Can I call you Jemmy like Papa does?”

And if James thought Thomas would kill him with feelings then Maria was probably gonna finish him off. How Thomas refrained from gushing about this adorable child was beyond him. This little girl with Thomas’ bouncy curls and his larger than life smile was quickly stealing his heart.

“I’d like that.”

“Then you can call me Polly!”

James furrowed his brow. “Polly? Why Polly?”

“Well, Patsy’s name doesn’t sound like her name, so why not?”

James had always assumed her name was something like Patricia or Penny. “Oh? What’s Patsy’s name?”

“Martha,” she said. James suddenly had an idea why her nickname sounded so unlike her given one. No wonder he’d never heard her real name before. “She has Momma’s name. I think it’s nice but Patsy thinks it sounds old.”

That’s probably not her only problem with it. “Well, Polly,” he emphasized the new nickname, “spaghetti?”

“Spaghetti!”

Dinner was a mess, but James figured it would be. Maria wasn’t well-versed in eating spaghetti cleanly so it ended up all over the table. James knew he was already wrapped around this girl’s finger since he didn’t even try to reprimand her. She helped him put the cookies in the oven and he let her have one when they cooled.

James knelt down to wipe crumbs of her face. “You can take the rest home with you, okay?”

“Okay!” she said through a mouth full of cookie.

It wasn’t long before James tucked her into the guest bedroom and pulled out the assortment of books Thomas had left for them. He held them up for Maria’s choice and smiled when she pointed at _The Fox and the Hound_.

“It’s one of my favorites!” Maria snuggled further down into the bed.

“Mine too,” he agreed. He opened the book and began reading to her. He kept a low, even voice in the hopes it would lull her to sleep.

Lo and behold, one book later and little Maria was trying her hardest to fight back against the sleepiness overpowering her. James smiled at the adorable picture.

“Goodnight, Polly.”

Maria’s eyes slipped shut. “G’night, Papa.”

James knew it had been a slip of the tongue. Maria had sleepily forgotten it wasn’t Thomas tucking her in for bed. Still, something in him simultaneously delighted and feared her words. A warm, lifting feeling filled his chest. He’d never thought of himself as a fatherly person. Usually, he was the one being taken care of.

James looked at the bedside clock. This was not a barely past eight revelation. This was a one in the morning, three drinks in kind of revelation. Life didn’t seem keen on that idea though, and it wasn’t as if he could get drunk with Thomas’ youngest in his guest room.

James started towards the kitchen and decided to compromise with some ice cream. That was better than alcohol anyway. Just as he pulled out the mint chocolate chip, his phone started buzzing. He grabbed a spoon and answered the call.

“James Madison speaking,” he said.

“Jemmy!” Thomas spoke from across the line. “How’s my little girl? Did she behave?”

“She was an angel—which makes me think she must be someone else’s child because you certainly don’t act that way.” He shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

“Rude,” he huffed, but James could hear the smile in his voice. “No fussing then? You two did ok?”

James thought back to his conversation with Maria. He nodded, only to remember he was on the phone. “Yeah, we were fine.” He took another bite of ice cream.

Thomas sighed. “That’s good. Though, I wish I could’ve called to tell her goodnight.” He paused. “Are you eating?”

James flushed and nearly coughed up a lung. He hadn’t realized he’d been eating that loudly. “J-just ice cream! Polly and I had spaghetti for dinner.”

There was a laugh on the other line, but it faded into a confused, “Polly?”

James decided to put his ice cream to the side for now. “Maria wants that to be her new nickname,” he clarified. He probably should’ve led with that. “Or I might’ve gotten a girlfriend named Polly, but, honestly, which is more likely?”

“Well,” Thomas replied, “You are quite a catch.”

He snorted. “You mean catch of the day?”

“Catch of the century,” he clarified. James rolled his eyes. “I can hear your eyes roll.”

That got him to chuckle. “I’m impressed. That’s some super-sonic hearing you’ve got.”

“Well, you learn to adapt when you’re raising kids. I’m glad you two had a good time. I was nervous when she insisted on staying at your place instead of you coming over, but it seems to have worked out.”

“Yeah.” He gave his next words some thought before saying, “We had a little talk.”

“Oh?” James could imagine the little head tilt he’d do in person.

“I promised not to tell you what she said, but I just thought you should know we talked about some things that were bothering her.”

There was a long pause and James was afraid he’d screwed up. He’d just told Thomas he wouldn’t tell him what his own daughter was being bothered by! He was a total idiot, but he’d feel terrible if he broke Maria’s trust. Goddamn morals. He took back the ice cream and started eating again. He wouldn’t say dumb shit if his mouth was full.

“Thank you,” was not what James expected to hear. It made him put the ice cream back down and listen. Thomas continued, “I trust you’d tell me if I really needed to know, even if it makes me uneasy that Maria is already going to other people with her problems.”

“You’ll still always be her dad.”

“I know.” Thomas sounded wistful, like he was reminiscing the days Maria only went to him. James wished Thomas was in front of him. He expressed so much in body language that just couldn’t reach over the phone. “Is it alright if I come by in the morning to pick her up? The band still has another set.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll make her waffles or something.”

“Damn, James, she’s gonna love you more than me after this.”

James knew what Thomas had meant. Maria would love him more than she loved Thomas. Still, his brain couldn’t help catching the other meaning. Maria would love him more than Thomas loves him. God, that was a thought. If the fatherly person thing was a three drinks in revelation, this was probably a six drinks in train of thought. Ice cream was no substitute for that.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” James said.

“That you will. Enjoy your ice cream,” he teased. “Do you usually eat ice cream while on the phone like a gossiping teenager?”

James tried to frown, but the sides of his lips wouldn’t stop quirking up. “Well, considering I was never a fan of gossip, no.” He leaned back in his chair. “Unless you had something to gossip about,” he joked.

“Well,” Thomas said, mischief clear in his voice. “I met this cute guy the other day. He co-owns a bakery and he’s really funny and sweet. I really want to ask him out. Do you think I should, Jemmy?”

There was no stopping a smile now. “I think so. He’d be lucky to be asked out by a guy like you.”

Thomas _awww_ ed at him. “James, that was adorable. I wish I was there in person to see you say that.”

“Too bad I’m never saying it again.”

“You’re so mean to me!” A noise in the background started up. “Oh! The next set is starting. I’ll see you tomorrow, Darlin’.”

“See you tomorrow,” he echoed. They both stayed on the phone a few seconds longer before hanging up.

Despite the nervousness bubbling in his chest from all the revelations and thoughts from the night, he was able to bask in the after-glow of their conversation. After a moment, James looked down at his ice cream and sighed. “I really am a bonified teenager right now, Jesus. All we were missing was a ‘no, you hang up’ bit.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Man, I’m in deep.”

But, he supposed, thinking of the sleepy child in his guest room and the man he’d be seeing tomorrow, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Maria's actual name is Mary, though I chose to call her Maria. As a child, she was referred to as Polly, hence her chosen nickname in this fic. Patsy and Polly were the two Jefferson daughters to survive infancy. When Polly got older, she went by Maria instead.
> 
> Fun fact 2: The scene where James approves of Maria's work with the cookie dough was inspired by my late grandmother. She let me help her make matzah ball soup once, wherein you have to shape matzah meal into balls. Mine were all uneven and lopsided next to her nice ones, but she said they were perfect. That meant a lot to me and it still does to this day. I felt like it was a good moment for James and Maria to bond over.


End file.
